The closures are part of the FAA’s plan to meet the $637 million in cuts required under the federal government’s budget sequestration.

Miller trains his students how to use the radios in the airplane to maintain proper spacing for landings and takeoffs, but said the air traffic controllers will be missed.

"Instead of being able to call the air traffic controller and having the controller sequence the traffic and also help us locate other traffic as we're flying, we'll have to do those tasks ourselves," Miller said.

Miller insists operations will be safe at Executive Airport, but just not nearly as efficient with controllers absent from the tower.

One experienced worker at Executive Airport was blunt about the anticipated impact.

"Initially, I think we'll have some chaos," said Bill Myers of Myers Pacific, an aviation and marine insurer at the airport.

Myers predicted fewer planes will take off and land at Executive Airport without controllers, especially corporate jets, where pilots like to know the final approach to the runways is going to be all theirs.

"What they don't like is to be in a $10 million of $15 million business jet coming in, and there's a little weed-wacker coming in that may or may not be using the common frequency to announce his intentions," Myers said.

"We heard from communities across the country about the importance of their towers and these were very tough decisions," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "Unfortunately, we are faced with a series of difficult choices that we have to make to reach the required cuts under sequestration."

Stockton Municipal Airport, which was on the FAA’s preliminary list, was not on the final list of closures.

Closures will take place during a four-week period starting April 7.

Eleven air traffic control towers at small airports throughout California also made the list.

The closures will leave pilots to coordinate movements by themselves.

Also on the list are Castle Airport in Merced County, Salinas Municipal in Monterey County, Fullerton Municipal in Orange County and Oxnard Airport in Ventura County. Two control towers in Riverside County - Riverside Municipal and Ramona.

Towers will also be shuttered at Victorville's Southern California Logistics Airport in San Bernardino County, Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles and Gen. William J. Fox Airfield in northern Los Angeles County.